Lake Turkana wind power project in Kenya stays on track

As Mega wind farm in Kenya which is the Lake Turkana Wind Power Project- rises from the arid landscape of northwest Kenya’s Marsabit County,one thing is certain-the wind project will not only transform the country’s energy prospects but Africa’s energy landscape.

Seen as a viable project, technology giant Google announced that it was buying 12.5 per cent stake of Africa’s largest wind farm that is the Lake Turkana Wind Power construction project in Kenya.

A spot check on the Lake Turkana Wind Power project shows that Developers are nearing the halfway mark in the raising of 365 wind turbines that will deliver emissions-free electricity to support the country growing economy.

One of the stakeholders- Vestas Wind Systems installed the 154th turbine at the Lake Turkana Wind Power project, just kilometers from the massive saline lake, popularly known as the Jade Sea for its translucent blue-green water.

The raising of the 850-kilowatt V52 generator, which Vestas calls “the turbine that goes anywhere,” marked another milestone for the project’s developers and hundreds of workers toiling in the harsh conditions of western Marsabit County.

The planned 310-megawatt facility, occupying 40,000 acres near the village of Sarima on the lake’s southeast shore, is Kenya’s largest private investment to date, at nearly $700 million. Completion of the Lake Turkana Wind Power project is set for 2017.

The mega wind farm in Kenya is expected to power roughly 1.5 million homes and will account for roughly 15 percent of the country’s daily electricity load officials involved in the project have said. The project puts Kenya as bold and visionary leader as far as clean energy is concerned.

Kenya prides itself in one wind farm operates in the Ngong Hills outside Nairobi. The wind project was commissioned as a pilot for Kenya Electricity Generating Co. Ltd. (KenGen) in 1993 with two turbines donated from Belgium. It was recommissioned in 2009 and expanded last year from 5.1 MW to 25.5 MW of capacity.